Monday Ramblings

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening everybody. We’re nearing the holiday season and it can be the best time of the year for some. For others, it can be the most challenging and if that's you, please reach out to someone. My DM’s are always open.

Let’s face it, NHL goalies are a tough lot to predict. It’s far enough into the season to be reasonably (or overly) worried about the guys on your squad who you spent big draft capital on only for them to punish you in return. But with fire there is rebirth and renewal. With goalies, there is always a chance that they turn it around at any given point. I’m going to take you through a few guys who may have been cruise line anchors to your team goalie stats through this point in the season and check if any of them have a chance to get their heads above water any time soon.

Alexandar Georgiev / Colorado Avalanche

Georgiev is sitting ugly in second to last in the league with a -11.8 GSAA. That is putrid and we’re not talking about a bad jug of milk. With a quality start number of just 35% it’s no wonder that the Avalanche felt the need to make a trade for Scott Wedgewood. It may seem like a small deal, but there are so many situations where bringing in a new guy sparks a bit of a hot streak for him. Wedgewood has been pretty similar. He has had a shutout and a quality game before that, when coming in as relief. In Between he had a bad start giving up four on 34 shots but I’ll give him a pass as he adjusts. It’s still a bit up in the air what is going to happen with this time share but as of now it looks like a ride the hot hand carousel for a bit. To add, I don’t have much faith in Georgiev turning it around completely but the guy is going to get you wins at the least when and if Colorado stays healthy up front.

Jeremy Swayman / Boston Bruins

After all of the bluster in training camp over Swayman’s new contract and his potential hold out he may be wishing he sat out the first few months. Swayman has a quality start percentage of just .500 and an .893 save percentage for a 9-9-2 record as a result. Boston themselves had an awful start and I don’t think we place even 50 percent of the blame on Swayman, but it’s hard to see the decrease in scoring there and not worry about them going forward. For Boston to fumble their contract leverage with trading Linus Ullmark before signing Swayman was one thing. To now be a quarter of the way into the season and be entering into the weird ‘do we start rebuilding’ phase of a flickering franchise run is rough. While they attempt to salvage what remains of their playoff window before having to retool I expect Swayman to stay near these numbers or improve slowly with the team throughout the season.

Stuart Skinner / Edmonton Oilers

As the Oilers media chases their tails lambasting the defense and spouting off about needing better from perennial superstar Evan Bouchard, Stuart Skinner has been the real guy sinking them. I like the guy, and there has been a bit of a turn in the right direction in the last week or two, but it was a tough start to the season and to even turn one eye towards Bouchard and the Oilers defense would just be ignorant. Skinner is seventh worst in the league with a -7.0 GSAA. The only three starters with a worse number here are the two we just talked about and Spencer Martin, albeit a brief starter. One of the stats that may be a saving grace to Stuart is the Oilers penalty kill. After putting up historic numbers on the penalty kill in last season's playoffs, things have been quite the opposite in the early going for Edmonton. Skinner has had a markedly better season than Swayman and Georgiev when you sort for only even strength minutes. On the penalty kill, Skinner is easily the worst of the three, and almost worst in the league with a -5.0 GSAA. He looked a bit lackadaisical tracking pucks and returning to position during the first third of the season in all situations and seems to have upped his intensity a little as of late. I would bet on Skinner the rest of season out of these three guys as long as the Oilers can turn that penalty kill around.

You can find more of my writing on Wednesday’s for Dobber hockey by checking out the Injury Ward.

As always everybody thank you all for reading and please give me a follow over on Twitter/X @LOGoalz. I am usually quick to respond to people for any advice and/or banter you’d like to throw my way. Have a great week everyone.